Court

Dr Lal awarded doctorate after final assignment

August 4, 2022 4:40 pm

Dr Hasmukh Lal. [File Photo]

Former Chief Executive of Pacific TAFE, Dr Hasmukh Lal says no university awards a doctorate on a fifty-page assignment.

Dr Lal said this during cross examination by the University of South Pacific Counsel Feizal Haniff as the trial continued in the Employment Relations Court today.

Dr. Lal took USP to court after he was terminated for alleged plagiarism in May 2020.

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Haniff touched on certain payments made by Dr. Lal to Atlantic International University in Honolulu, Hawaii, and how they were made on the same day when he submitted his final project.

Dr Lal said the payments were for the completion of his PHD, which was being done in instalments.

Haniff questioned Dr. Lal about his modules and why they were not revealed in court.

Dr. Lal said he was not advised that he needed to produce his modules in court and that he had completed nine modules to obtain a doctorate.

He admitted that he was awarded his doctorate on June 11th, 2019, 55 days after submitting his last assignment

The matter has been adjourned to 30th November to fix a date for the completion of the trial next year.

Both counsels are expected to call in eleven witnesses during the course of the trial.